


They've Got Nothing On You

by Barbara_Lazuli



Series: The Sixth Ranger [2]
Category: power ranger 2017
Genre: F/F, it's kat's pov this time, tomkat centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2019-09-02 06:08:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16781185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barbara_Lazuli/pseuds/Barbara_Lazuli
Summary: It's funny how significant changes in Katherine's life happens whenever a girl decks Ty Flemming in the face.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I enjoyed tomkat's dynamic way too much, here's a sequel to anyone interested in reading kat's pov :)

Amanda Clarke lost her dignity, Ty Flemming lost his tooth, and the cheer squad lost its captain. All of this happened in a single day, all because of one Kimberly Hart.

Katherine was there when Kimberly punched her now ex-boyfriend. Literally, just when Kimberly threw the punch and Ty's tooth came flying out. She thinks it landed on Colt Wallace's eye, she isn't sure. She was too busy staring wide-eyed at Kimberly Hart, who managed to look flawless even as her eyes are filled with rage and her knuckles bled.

She was suddenly feeling really hot in her jean jacket. Which was really weird because it was the middle of October.

She wasn't there to hear what the two were talking about before the punch landed, and she knows better than to trust the rumors that come out of teenagers' mouths. So she had no idea _why_ it happened. When she was suddenly accepted into the cheer squad after failing the try-outs weeks ago, and she hoped to find out once she's finally close enough to them.

Neither things happened though.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

"Really? Oh my god! I won't let you down, I promise!"

"Yeah, whatever," Amanda says as she rolls her eyes. "You're only in 'cause we're short a member. So don't get too excited."

Katherine blinks, then shrinks beneath the older girl's cold stare. "Right, sorry."

Amanda huffs before resting a hand on her hip. "God, you're such a push-over. Hey, Rebecca!" She turns her head to one of the cheerleaders sitting on the bleachers. Rebecca pries her eyes away from her phone. "Are you sure we can't get anyone less... boring?"

Rebecca shrugs. "She was the only other girl who could actually do a flip."

Katherine swallows down the hurtful words Amanda said. After all, the senior just had her naked picture sent to every one in school. She can't blame her for acting out because of it. She chooses to focus on what Rebecca said instead.

"I can do a lot more than that. I used to take gymnastics classes, actually. And, uh, about the boring thing, I can totally work on that. I'll, uh..."

Shit, what? Dye her hair _pink_? 

"Lose the glasses," Amanda suddenly says.

Katherine's hand subconcsiously lifts to touch the frames of her glasses. "These? Well, yeah, I won't wear them during practice and events 'cause they'll fall off -"

"I meant stop wearing them. Always wear contacts. You'll look less nerdy." 

Suddenly Amanda is in her space, removing her glasses and taking Katherine's chin in her hand so she can look at her face from every angle. And, wow, even as a low quality blur Amanda's pretty.

"Yeah, you got a nice enough face," Amanda says. She finally steps back and Katherine considers putting her glasses back but decides against it. "We have cheer practice this Wednesday and Saturday morning. Don't be late."

Katherine nods as Amanda gathers her things and the cheerleaders follow her out of the gym.

"Hayley just texted me that she heard Kim's getting Saturday detention until she graduates," Rebecca says.

"Good," Amanda says, her voice low and dangerous. "Bitch deserves a lot worse, if you ask me."

Katherine is left in the empty gym, wondering how a group of girls who always seemed to look so close during lunch break could laugh at such a thing. She shakes her head, smiling as she takes in the place she'll now frequent for something other than P.E. She looks down at the folded glasses in her hand before shoving the pair inside her bag.

She stumbles only four times before she got home.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

So being a cheerleader wasn't what she expected it would be like. Sure, more boys have started noticing her, that she expected. But she doesn't feel _happy_ about it, not truly. She likes the fact that she finally got some attention, but she doesn't get that fluttery feeling she expected to get when a boy flirts with her.

She appreciates that the boys at least notice her, unlike her fellow cheerleaders. Her upperclassmen treat her like a mule that's supposed to carry their bags, or an errand girl that they only talk to when they need something done. Even her two fellow freshmen, who became friends after actually passing try-outs, completely ignore her. 

She joined the squad so that she could be part of _something_. And she is, but even when surrounded by these girls, she feels like she's alone.

"Time for a partner project," their teacher announces.

Most of the class groans. One thing Katherine prefers doing alone: school work. She hates needing to work with someone to get a project done, mostly because she always ends up with someone insufferable.

"I want you guys to collaborate in writing a short story. Minimum of a thousand words." More groaning. "Oh, _please_. That won't even take a half hour to read."

"Sure wish it takes that long to write it," Katherine hears Tanya Sloan whisper to Aisha Campbell who discreetly laughs into her hand. 

Katherine feels a pang of envy hit her. She hasn't even had a friend she's close enough with to quip to under teachers' noses. 

Their teacher chooses their partners for them. Tanya and Aisha pout when they get separated and get partnered with Adam Park and Rocky de Santos respectively.

"Hillard and Oliver."

Katherine purses her lips. She turns her head to the back of the class, where Tommy Oliver is lazily sprawled on her desk. Half her face is covered by her folded arms that are resting on the table. Her green eyes turn to Katherine's when they notice them on her. Instead of nonchalantly waving at the other girl, Katherine's head quickly spins to the front of the class.

Ugh. Amanda would slap her for such an _uncool_ move.

Their teacher glances at the wall clock at the back of the class. "We still have ten minutes left. Why don't you go to your partners and discuss what it's gonna be about?"

Katherine sighs, already dreading doing this project. Their teacher was right. A thousand words really isn't much. They could probably finish it in one sitting in the library. Then she won't have to talk to Tommy Oliver again.

It's not that Katherine hates Tommy Oliver. She doesn't even know much about her, which, really, is part of the problem. In a small town like Angel Grove, everyone knows everyone. Sure Katherine doesn't have anyone she could actually call a _friend_ , but she already knows most of her peers. It makes it easier for her to navigate her interactions with them. She knows when to feel like she's the Alpha girl in control of the situation, or be a little more subdued, like say, when she's with the other cheerleaders.

Tommy Oliver came from the city and doesn't go out of her way to socialize with anyone. It's almost like she can't be bothered, like no one in their school is worth the time. She doesn't mind eating alone, walking the halls alone, and going home alone. There's a part of Katherine that wishes she could be just a little bit like her, which is a terrifying and confusing thought.

"Hey. You okay?"

Katherine jumps in her seat. She was so lost in thought that Tommy has already dragged a chair near Katherine's. She's studying her face and Katherine flushes at the scrutinizing gaze. In spite of Tommy's dark skin, she has light green eyes. Katherine may be just a little bit mesmerized.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Katherine says as she sits a little bit straighter, a little bit more confident. "I just really hate these kind of projects." She punctuates her distaste by rolling her eyes. She's been hanging around Amanda too much, it seems.

Tommy hums as she leans back in her chair. She shrugs. "We could make it fun."

"Fun?"

"Yeah." She smiles, and it surprises Katherine. Tommy looks _giddy_ with excitement, something she didn't expect she would see. "We can make it like a game."

"I'm lost. And we haven't even played yet."

Tommy snorts briefly. "We don't talk about what the story's gonna be about. We just take turns writing sentences until we make the quota."

"Okay... so I write a few sentences, without consulting you, then you continue it, then I get my turn. Until we finish?"

"Yup."

"What? What if it turns into a mess?"

"Did you want a perfect grade?"

"... no."

Tommy shrugs. "Then it wouldn't matter."

Well, then...

"Okay."

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\

There's a ripped notebook paper folded and slipped inside Katherine's locker. She's confused for only a moment before she sees Tommy's name scribbled at the corner.

_I was bored in class so I started the first paragraph :/  
~ Tommy O_

She unfolds it, momentarily forgetting that she's supposed to exchange her books for her last two periods.

It started off simple enough, with a character named Percy starting his first year at _Camp Pining Hearts_. Simple, but ridiculous. Katherine finds herself snorting into her hand. If Tommy wants to parody cheesy soap operas, then fine. Tommy was right. This is going to be fun.

The paragragh wasn't very long, but she spent enough time by her locker that people are starting leave the halls and trudge into their classrooms. Katherine hastily exchanges her things before re-folding Tommy's paper and tucking it inside one of her jacket's pockets. The smile on her face from when she read what Tommy wrote disappears when she hears familiar laughter before the clicking of familiar heels.

"Oh, hey, it's Katherine," Rebecca says as she and the other cheerleaders stop in front of their underclassman.

"You should just call her Kat," Amanda says. "'Katherine' sounds like such an old lady name."

The practiced smile Katherine put on her face twitches for a moment. She never thought of that. Does it really?

"'Kat' sounds much cuter," Amanda adds. "Right? _Kat_?"

"Uh, yeah," Katherine says, which isn't really a lie. "Totally."

"Ooh! Girls!" Harper hisses lowly. "She's here!"

They turn their attention to the end of the H section of lockers where Kimberly Hart is walking towards hers, too busy texting someone on her phone to notice them. Katherine's breath catches in her throat. She looks _stunning_ with short hair.

"C'mon," Harper pulls on Katherine's arm. "Let's go."

"What? Why?"

"She can't see us, or you," Amanda says, a 'duh' expression on her face. She does that a lot to Katherine, like she's the dumbest person she met. Next to Rebecca. "And she knows you're with us. Now come on."

Katherine follows wordlessly. After days of being with Angel Grove High's cheerleaders, she has come to realize that things like these most probably mean that they did something,well, mean. 

She looks over her shoulder at Kimberly. Katherine's contacts are magnificent, but the fact saddens her. If her eyes were bare, she wouldn't have been able to see Kimberly's tears.

She bumps into someone on their way, a girl with yellow highlights at the tips of her hair. Katherine doesn't know why, but she felt extremely guilty under the shorter girl's gaze. She looks away and follows after the cheerleaders without asking for an apology nor giving one.

The next day, Katherine passes by Kimberly's locker to find that it no longer has a door. The girls are a little terrified while Amanda pretends that the mangled locker doesn't faze her. Katherine tries to not be disappointed that running into Kimberly Hart is less likely now that she uses a locker somewhere in the G section.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

"What the -- why is Pierre suddenly a werewolf?"

Their assignment has become more ridiculous as they take turns writing it. Katherine's been trying to make it a love story, but Tommy keeps making plot twists that swerve the story into different directions. Katherine has never felt more exasperated, but for some reason she can't get the smile off her face.

Tommy shrugs, nonchalantly sitting back so her chair is only supported by two legs. "It got boring. I wanted to make it more exciting."

"No, you just put our assignment in a different fucking genre halfway through the story. Not only is our story shitty, it also doesn't make sense."

Tommy makes a face. "You're such a potty mouth."

Katherine rolls her eyes, but she can't for the life of her hide the smile on her face. Compared to Amanda and the others, she's actually pretty tame. "And you're a _disaster_. Can't you just sit properly?"

Tommy lets out one "hah!". "Us g -- I mean-" she clears her throat- "nope. No, I can't. It's a... thing."

Katherine only acknowledges the blunder with a, "You're so weird," before attempting to take the sheet of paper from her partner. 

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna erase whatever disaster it is you've written."

"Nuh-uh. I've barely even written!"

"Well, then write something else!"

The sound of someone clearing their throat makes the two girls pause. It's a good thing, too, because any more and they would have torn the paper from between them. They turn to see a very disgruntled librarian glaring at them through cliche pointed glasses. Both girls' mouths clamp shut and sit more properly. In Tommy's attempt, she rights her chair so that it's standing on all of it's legs, causing a loud thunk to echo within the library. Now other students have their eyes on the pair.

"We'll just... go," Katherine says with a nervous laugh. When she sees Tommy glaring back at the librarian, she pulls on her arm and hauls her out of the library. "Oh my god, what was that? Do you want to be banned from the library?"

Tommy tilts her head cluelessly. "Was I that noisy?"

"I meant the glaring thing, dumbass!" Katherine hisses before she slaps her hand to her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean that."

She's always been careful.She may not be as beautiful as Kimberly or charismatic as Amanda, but she can seem like a person people would like. She wants to at least manage that. She doesn't bully the nerds, or bitch at the jocks, or steal anyone's boyfriend. She doesn't join in when the cheerleaders do all of those things, she can never bring herself to. She never speaks against them, though. She isn't an idiot.

The friendly teasing a moment ago was fine. But her remark may have offended the intimidating Tommy Oliver. She shouldn't have said that. They weren't close enough for that.

"I was glaring?"

Katherine takes a moment to look at Tommy's narrowed eyes and furrowed brows. Then she very carefully says, "... yes. You're actually glaring right now."

Green eyes widen. "Really?" She looks back at the library's entrance. "Crap, should I apologize?"

"You really didn't know?" 

"Well, my dad always said I should smile more because I have a resting bitch face. But I sometimes forget about it."

Katherine huffs out a laugh. "I can't believe it."

"Well he didn't actually say 'resting bitch face'."

"No, I mean -" another laugh -"do you have any idea what kind of reputation you have?"

"I have a reputation?"

"Most of the kids think you hate everything." 

"Well, that's ridiculous." She leans against the wall. It seems they won't be leaving any time soon. "I love french fries. That should count right?"

"Yeah, okay. But your dad''s right. You should smile more often. You're beautiful. You'd be a lot more popular if you look more approachable."

Now she's just spouting out compliments to save face. She does it all the time when Amanda's in a terrible mood and stroking her ego's the only way lift it and guarantee her presence could be acknowledged. She always does this, but the words coming out of her mouth makes her face burn. 

The bashful smile Tommy gives makes Katherine's stomach twist in a weird way. "Awe, thanks, Katherine. But I'm good. Smiling all the time sounds tiring."

"You know that's not what I meant."

Rocky de Santos chooses that moment to walk by them. Katherine puts on a practiced smile as soon as she notices him coming their way.

"Hey, Kat," Rocky greets, completely ignoring Tommy who remains apathetic. "Can I expect you to cheer for me in our game tomorrow?"

"Of course, Rocky."

A snort catches their attention. They both turn to see Tommy look away in time, a fist covering her mouth. 

"Right. We're actually in the middle of doing our homework, Rocky," Katherine says, gesturing to her partner.

Rocky nods in understanding. "Yeah, sure, I won't bother you."

"You're a _cheerleader_ ," Tommy says when Rocky is finally out of earshot. "Of course you're gonna cheer for him."

Katherine rolls her eyes. "I know. But he was flirting. I wasn't gonna snark at him."

"Why?" Tommy scrunches her nose. "Do you like him?"

"... no. But flirting back is harmless. I just... like the attention."

Katherine regrets her words as soon as they leave her mouth. She expects Tommy to say that she's pathetic, like Amanda always would no matter what she'd do. But Tommy only nods like what she said had a valid point.

"You don't really have to flirt with someone you don't like to get noticed," Tommy says. "But I kinda get why you do it."

Katherine can only blink back. She's never felt so validated before.

... that sounds even more pathetic.

Katherine distracts herself from self-admonishment by checking the time in her phone. "It's almost time for cheer practice."

"Okay, then." Tommy surprises her by quickly snatching their draft from her hands. "I'll go ahead and finish our homework, then."

"What? No way!"

She tries to snatch it back, but Tommy only holds it over her head. Curse Tommy Oliver's parents for creating such a tall child.

"Don't worry," Tommy drawls. "My dumb ass won't let us fail. Just go worry about forming pyramids and doing backflips."

Tommy is already walking away and Katherine lets her. Amanda doesn't like members who arrive later than her.

"Don't change the genre!" she yells at Tommy's back and swaying ponytail. She can feel the other students stare in confusion, but for once she couldn't bring herself to care. 

"Yeah, yeah," Tommy replies without turning. "Just go have fun at cheer practice."

She knows she won't. But she's already had so much fun doing homework with Tommy. It was a lot more enjoyable than spending time with her fellow cheerleaders.

That sounds pathetic, too, but she surprisingly doesn't care about that either.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\

"I can't believe we got an A," Katherine says dazedly as she and Tommy walk out of their class. "Our shitty teen drama story got an _A_ , Tommy! What the fuck? Maybe Ms. Johnson just doesn't read our homeworks?"

"Or she just likes trashy dramas?" Tommy suggests. 

Katherine giggles. A _real_ giggle, not the one she makes when the cheerleaders are gossiping about their "frenemies". "That's probably it. My mom loves watching them, too, for some reason."

Tommy side eyes her. "Are you sure you don't either? You seem to love romance, based on how many times you've steered our homework in that direction."

She elbows Tommy lightly and she smiles wider when the other girl laughs in response. "I'm not a hopeless romantic."

"Dude, _you_ said that. Not me." She smirks. "But you so are."

"I'm not!" she says with faux indignance, but she isn't even sure if it were true. She longs for romance almost as much as she does real friendship. But even though she's considerably high in the social pyramid, she doesn't have either. Not real ones. She doesn't get to make teasing remarks and inside jokes with the cheerleaders. She doesn't feel butterflies in her stomach whenever a boy flirts with her. The only times she's ever felt even _close_ to that is when -

"Hey. Are you okay?"

Katherine gets lost in Tommy's frustrating green eyes again. She wonders how she could ever think this girl was intimidating. After a week of writing a half-assed story and exchanging jokes with her, she's come to realize that the other girl is nothing like she expected. She has had numerous expectations about high school, but this is the only realization that doesn't disappoint her. Because Tommy Oliver is the only person so far who has made Katherine forget how lonely she is.

"Yeah," she eventually says. "I'm fine."

Tommy gives her a skeptical look. "Really? 'Cause you just suddenly frowned. Is it about the romance thing? I don't really think there's anything wrong with that." She shrugs. "I was just teasing."

Katherine smiles before she notices that they're already at the cafeteria. "I really am. Hey, um.."

It would be so easy to ask Tommy if they could sit together for lunch. Tommy always eats alone anyway in that table she shares with Adam Park. And being with the cheerleaders has become more and more suffocating as the days pass. But then both freshmen hear Rebecca call Katherine over to their table. She was almost touched by the fact that they noticed her until she realized that they probably need her for something. 

"I'll see you in class," Katherine says to Tommy instead of the question burning her tongue.

"Sure thing, Katherine," Tommy replies with a smile that's almost unfair before she leaves to stand in line for her lunch.

Katherine sighs in disappointment at herself before going to the cheerleaders' table. 

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Ty Flemming is the kind of attractive most girls would say is their type. Physically at least. Aside from his baby blue eyes and sculpted body, Katherine doesn't really think she has much going for him. Based on how much Amanda has flirted with him and how often the other cheerleaders have done the same behind their captain's back, they probably wouldn't agree.

Maybe Ty Flemming just isn't Katherine's type.

She doesn't really know herself what her type is though. Maybe someone with pretty eyes and a nice smile? But how come when the day he took the chance to make a pass at her and directed those charms towards Katherine, she felt nothing but uncomfortable?

"You're the new recruit, right? Katie?"

Katherine almost let a crisp "Son of a bitch!" escape her mouth. She just closed her locker when Ty appeared like a ghost in a horror film. She tries to match his smile, clutching her books against her still rapidly beating heart.

"Yeah, hi! It's Katherine - I mean, Kat, actually." When she notices the way Ty is looking at her, she adds, "The new _freshman_ recruit."

Ty only smiles wider. "Those books look pretty heavy. 'Want me to help you with that?"

"Ahaha, no, it's okay. But thanks for the offer."

She's quick to walk away. She hopes Ty gets the hint and lets her be. She doesn't really want to be caught by Amanda or the other cheerleaders flirting with Ty. Not that she was, but she doesn't think they would believe her. 

Ty, unfortunately, doesn't relent. "How about I walk you to your class, Katie?" 

Katherine purses her lips. Her Geometry book is pretty heavy. Would dropping it on a persistent quarterback's foot be considered rude?

Luckily, she didn't have to test that. Because she spotted salvation in the form of a green letterman jacket and high ponytail. 

"Tommy! Hey!" 

She immediately clings to Tommy's arm like they've been bestfriends since third grade. Tommy quirks a brow at her and Katherine tries her best to convey with her eyes for the other girl to just go with it.

"Are you a friend of Katie's?"

That's when Tommy notices their jock-shaped tail. Katherine is almost afraid that she would tell him to piss off when she frees her arm from Katherine's, but then that same arm wraps around her shoulders instead.

"Oh yeah!" Tommy says against Katherine's temple so she could face Ty as they walk. "Best friends forever and all that. Hey, Katherine, you got an extra tampon? Shark week's _killing_ me."

Katherine almost didn't notice Ty's face pale. She isn't sure if she's red-faced because of the crude remark or the proximity.

"I, uh, just remembered that I got my own class to get to," Ty says. "I'll see you later."

Once he finally leaves, Katherine reluctantly pulls away from Tommy.

"Isn't he a senior?" Tommy says.

"Yeah. It's no big deal. He makes a pass at everyone. Thanks for that, by the way. Even though you totally embarassed me."

She tries to laugh, meaning to convey that she doesn't mind, but Tommy's still staring at Ty's retreating back.

"Hey. You're doing that thing again."

Tommy's frown remains. "What?"

Katherine lightly flicks the space between Tommy's brows. "You're glaring."

Tommy takes revenge by doing the same. "And you're going to make us late."

Tommy pulls Katherine by the hand and leads the way to their classroom. When Katherine decides to sit next to Tommy, the other girl only gives a welcoming smile before laying her folded arms on the table and resting her chin there. Like it's no big deal. 

But it is. At least for Katherine. 

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Katherine doesn't separate herself from the cheerleaders, even though she's long past pretending that she likes being in their presence. She only waves at Tommy when they see each other in the cafeteria or in the halls, but they've made a silent agreement to always sit next to each other in classes they share.

"Math is stupid," Katherine grumbles as she and Tommy work on an activity. There wasn't even a need to ask each other when their teacher told them to choose a partner.

"No, it's not," Tommy says with laughter laced in her voice.

"Why do I have to prove that it's a square? It's clearly a square!"

"You don't have to because I'm already doing it for you." Tommy's tongue is poking out of her mouth in concentration, her green eyes narrowed at their activity sheet.

Katherine looks back down at their paper when she realizes she's been staring. "Why are you good at Math, anyway? You're not supposed to be a nerd."

Tommy snorts. "Whuzzat supposed to mean?"

"You don't dress like one. You dress like a jock."

Tommy thows acrumpled scratch paper at her. "Wow, Katherine. Way to stereotype. And shut your trap, will ya? I can't finish this if you keep distracting me."

"Right. Sorry." When she catches herself staring again, she takes her phone out to check for messages.

The only new messages are from the group chat with the cheerleaders. Amanda cancelled practice for a date, and the thread is filled with unnecessary emoji's and lewd comments. 

"Alright, done," Tommy suddenly says. "Let's just pass this and go home."

"Hey, have you ever been to the Krispey Kreme here?" Katherine asks when they're already in the hallway.

"Well, yeah. It's the only place in this tiny town you can hang out in. Why?"

"I, um... Nothing. Just wondering. Since you're new here and all. I thought you holed yourself in your room reading geometry books."

_Tch. Coward._

Tommy sticks her tongue out at her. "For your information, I don't hole myself in my room to _read_. I _sleep_." A car beeping its horn catches their attention. Recognition flashes in Tommy's eyes and she pulls the strap of her bag tighter around herself. "He's early." She juts a thumb out to the car. "That's my ride. I'll see you next week."

Katherine waves until the car disappears from her view. She berates herself for being a coward. If she only knew that the donut franchise would be destroyed by a giant golden monster the next day, she would have been a little braver.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Half the city is destroyed. Newspapers and tabloids are filled with pictures and articles of the Power Rangers. Katherine isn't sure what to think of them. Most people think they're aliens who have brought their fight to Earth. Some think they came here to save humanity. Others say they're here for the gold.

Katherine's just worried.

Amanda and Rebecca are still freaking out over being almost killed by most of the rock monsters even though the only one who actually got hurt was Amanda's car. Katherine just put their group chat on mute. She only cares to check on one other person on Angel Grove aside her mother, but she doesn't even have her damn number. Since Krispey Kreme is destroyed and they're on break from school until the left wing gets properly repaired, she doesn't know where to look for her either.

"Ugh. Tommy fucking Oliver..."

"Honey? Are you okay?"

Katherine feels the couch she's curled up on dip from where her mother sits. "Yeah. I just don't know if my friend is."

"Oh. Is, uh, Amanda okay?"

"I'm not talking about Amanda. Or any of the cheerleaders."

"Oh!" Her mother breathes a sigh of relief. She doesn't really like Katherine's "friends". "I mean, can't you text her?"

Katherine sits up so she can let her mother wrap her in her arms. After the incident with the giant monsters, Amy Hillard has become a lot more affectionate. Katherine doesn't complain because she honestly needs it after that frightening day.

Katherine pretends to fix the position of her glasses as she wipes a traitorous tear from her eye. "I don't have her number."

"Facebook?"

"I can't find her either. Stupid Tommy Oliver and her stupid name. I only keep getting men when I search for her!"

Katherine hears her mother laugh and she huffs even more. "I'm sure she's fine. She wasn't one of the casualties listed in the news, right?"

"... No."

"Then just wait until school gets back next week, sweetie. And when you see her, give her a big hug!" she says before crushing her daughter in her own embrace.

Katherine flushes. "I'm not gonna do that. We're not close enough for that."

Amy shrugs. "So? I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

Katherine laughs. "No, you're not." She returns the embrace. "But thanks, Mom."

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

She doesn't know if it's because it's been a while since she's been back to school or it's because she's looking for a specific person, but the cafeteria seems even more chaotic than usual. 

Her eyes sweep the tables for a green letterman jacket, and she thought she's finally spotted Tommy until she realizes that it was a green _bomber jacket_. It's worn by that girl with yellow highlights in her hair, and Katherine is surprised when she notices that the girl is sitting beside Kimberly Hart. Opposite the two girls are three boys, one of them she recognizes to be the infamous Jason Scott.

"Hey, it's Katie."

Ty Flemming is approaching her with two more jocks flanking him and Katherine immediately curses her luck. Where the fuck is Tommy Oliver?

"Hey," she greets with a smile as fake as Rebecca's hair color. "Are you looking for Amanda? I think she's in one of the bathrooms fixing her make up."

"Cool, cool. Can you just tell her I'm gonna have a party tonight? Just a little back-to-school celebration, you know?"

Katherine nods. "Yeah, okay." 

She continues looking around for Tommy, but Ty keeps trying to get her attention. "You're coming right?"

"Uh..."

No, she actually wants to ask Tommy to hang out, like actual friends do. And besides, her mother would never let her.

But she's not telling Ty that.

"Sure thing."

Suddenly, Katherine feels a hand on her arm. "You know, you don't have to be so shy with me. Amanda and I aren't really dating."

Katherine's frown deepens. "I don't know what you mean."

He shrugs. "Isn't that why you ignore me? I like a challenge, but you don't have to be scared of Amanda."

No, she doesn't. But it doesn't mean that she has to accept and reciprocate Ty's advances either. 

She resists the urge to slap his hand away and gently pries his hand off her arm. "Excuse me. I have to go look for my friend."

The two jocks who have been watching the exchange snicker behind Ty. His eye twitches before he clicks his tongue. He moves out of the way and Katherine tries to hide her relieved sigh as she walks away to the exit. She'll just have to check if Tommy is hanging out somewhere else.

"Dude, are you sure?" she hears one of the jocks say. 

"Yeah," Ty says, loud enough that people near enough can hear him. "Dumb bitch probably wasn't gonna put out anyway."

Katherine halts in her steps and closes her eyes. She's been careful. She doesn't step on anyone's toes, doesn't bump heads with any of the popular kids. But being careful has made her nothing but fake friends amd shallow boys. 

She opens her eyes, prepared to finally let go of her filter and say what's really on her mind. But then she notices the furious green eyes in front of her. Tommy silently steps closer. The only indication that she noticed Katherine is a firm squeeze on her shoulder before she pulls back her arm and lands a punch on Ty Flemming.

"I dare you to say that again, asshole," Tommy growls out, eyes burning and knuckles bruising.

It's now the middle of November, but Katherine once again finds herself feeling incredibly hot in her jean jacket.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've heard of lesbians falling in love with their straight best friends. Now get ready for the supposed straight girl falling for her oblivious lesbian friend.
> 
> Oh if only Katherine knew that's exactly what's going on.

_tap, tap, tap, tap_

Katherine looks up at the wall clock. Three minutes left. She bites her lip, pretends to listen to Mr. Benson reminding them of their exam.

_tap, tap, tap, tap,_

One minute left. She gathers her things, including the pen she's been anxiously tapping against her desk, and shoves them into her bag. She's up and out of the classroom as soon as the bell rings. She can _feel_ her teacher's disapproving look on her back, but she ignores it. She has more pressing matters today.

She speed walks to the room at the end of the hall where she's sure Tommy has her last class for the day. Students are spilling out of the door, Katherine keeping an eye out for the tall girl. She visibly deflates when the last students out of the room are only Aisha Campbell and Tanya Sloan.

"Hey, hey, hey!" she calls out for the two girls. They thankfully notice her and let Katherine catch up to them.

"Oh, hey, Hillard," is Tanya's way of greeting. "You saw the fight at the cafeteria today, right?" She pulls out a small notebook and a pen from seemingly out of nowhere. "'You mind telling your favorite journalist all the details of what happened, hm?"

Aisha casually pushes the notebook out of sight. "What Tanya means to say is: are you okay? We only got there when the teachers broke it off. You weren't close enough to get hurt, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assures Aisha. When she sees Tanya raise her notebook again, she adds, "No details to tell other than what you already know." She's sure rumors are already circulating about her. A handful of people heard what Ty said. But as long as she doesn't full-on admit to their resident gossip the reason for the fight then she can still brush them off.

Tanya tucks her notebook back out of sight with visible disappointment. "'Guess I'll have to just track down Oliver, then."

"You didn't see her today?" Katherine asks. "Don't you share last period with her?"

"Yeah, but she didn't show up." Tanya shrugs. "They probably suspended sent her home early."

"Oh." 

Katherine must look as distraught as she feels because Aisha gives her a pitying look. "If you're worried about Tommy, maybe you should check the infirmary. She could still be there."

A smile stretches Katherine's lips. "Thanks."

She hears Tanya speak even as she walks. "Hey, I'll come, too - whoa! Aisha! Let go, my story's getting away!"

"Just let the girl rest, dum-dum," Aisha says with a laugh. "You can do the interview next week."

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Disappointment fully settles on Katherine's chest when she finds the infirmary empty aside for their school nurse. Katherine doesn't leave though. She'd like to at least know how bad Tommy's injuries were before she goes home. But the nurse is too busy scrolling through her phone to notice her presence. She clears her throat.

The nurse flinches minutely before resting her gaze on the student idling by her door. "Can I help you?"

Katherine lets herself inside. "Yes, uh, not because I'm sick or anything. 'Just wondering if a Tommy Oliver was sent here around lunch period? She's -" she pauses briefly to consider whether saying the following would be too much of an assumption. But then she realizes that she's talking to a stranger so it wouldn't matter anyway. "... my _friend_. I want to know how bad her injuries are. She got sent home before I could check on her. I'm just worried."

The nurse pulls out her clipboard and reads through the names logged in it. "Oh yeah, Oliver. Tall girl with long dark hair?" Katherine nods. "Yeah, she was in here until her father arrived to take her home." She smiles softly. "No serious injuries, don't worry. Just a couple of scrapes and bruises. I'm actually impressed. She came out of it prettier than one would expect when fighting three older boys. Your generation is something else."

Katherine sags in relief. She only then realized how tense she's been. 

"I don't know about our 'generation'," she says in reply. "But that Tommy Oliver really is something else."

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

When Tommy Oliver arrived to Angel Grove High, she was a hindrance. It's not personal or anything. She just made Katherine's dream for her ideal high school career a little bit harder to achieve. It wasn't intentional in Tommy's part. Katherine just doesn't like how she starts to act when she's aware that Tommy's near her.

As harsh and dismissive of Katherine as she may be, the young girl still admires Amanda Clarke.

(Almost as much as she does Kimberly Hart. Almost.)

Amanda is everything Katherine dreamed to be: beautiful, fit, talented, confident, and every other adjective one can come up with when it comes to being the head bitch in charge.

Katherine wasn't anything like that. She was shy and socially awkward. She looked like a nerd because of her glasses. But despite looking the part, she's no way smart enough to be considered one. She wasn't beauty, she wasn't brains.

Amanda is strong and Katherine wasn't. When she joined the cheer squad, she hoped to learn how to be a little stronger. But she only really learned how to make others feel weaker than they really are.

At first, Katherine figured that, if strength like that was good enough for Amanda, then it was good enough for her. Though she went about it a different way. Instead of making others feel worthless, she would make others feel _worth it_. So she would compliment Tanya Sloan's articles. She would make small talk with Aisha Campbell. She would entertain Rocky De Santos' advances.

She's not as tough as Amanda. But enough people don't hate her. And that's enough to be untouchable in high school. Others may call her a kiss up, but that's Katherine's version of _popular_.

Of course, she doesn't extend that sort of treatment to everyone. A cheerleader's got to have _standards_. God forbid she even smile at losers like Adam Park.

It's all just a mask she wears so she can stay on top. She's well aware of that. It's just so annoying how easily that mask could crumble whenever she's in Tommy's presence.

The mysterious and intimidating aura that seemed to surround Tommy just put Katherine off her game. She would quickly look away whenever their eyes met. She would get extremely self-conscious in classes they share, especially when she would get a teacher's question wrong and she _knows_ Tommy's eyes were on her. The rumors that Tommy was actually a violent delinquent didn't really help, no matter how ridiculous they sounded.

She just felt so uncool in the _New Girl_ 's eyes. It was irritating and a tad embarrassing.

But now she knows better. She knows _Tommy_ better. She knows that Tommy doesn't care about pretenses. She knows that it doesn't really take much effort to impress her or coax that adorable smile out of her. Tommy was strong, but unlike Amanda, she doesn't feel the need to step on others and look down on them to feel that way. She doesn't feel the need to convince others of her worth. 

Katherine feels kind of stupid to have thought that Tommy was anything but a fries-loving dork who is secretly a low key nerd. 

A low key nerd who is a high key dumbass.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

"Oliver! You fucking idiot! What are you-" 

Katherine doesn't finish her question. She knows exactly what Tommy is doing, the back of her long pony tail billowing as she runs toward the source of the noise they heard from the bathroom. She curses at Tommy's idiocy, then at her own dumbassery when she turns heel and follows Tommy.

Thankfully, there weren't any space monsters destroying their school like Katherine half-expected. She wasn't sure what Tommy's plan was when she ran here. Probably something righteously stupid like help anyone who could be in danger. Katherine only followed with the resolve to make sure that Tommy would be coming out in as few pieces as she possible before ceremoniously kicking Tommy's reckless ass herself.

They only find a destroyed locker that was apparently caused by a boy she distinctly remembers the jocks and cheerleaders call a weirdo. Katherine spots Kimberly among the group of misfits sentenced to detention. She's shoving a cackling boy away from the girl with yellow highlights in her hair. It lasted barely a second, but Katherine's heart skips a beat when Kimberly spares her a glance and their eyes meet. Katherine musters up the courage to smile but the senior girl doesn't notice as she turns to go back to their room with the other detention kids. 

"Tommy Oliver?" Mr. Benson asks for confirmation. Tommy nods and Katherine is barely able to say good bye when the teacher hauls Tommy out of there and back to their room for detention.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

"Beat up by a fourteen-year-old _girl_. Can you believe how lame that is?"

None of the girls notice that Katherine is considerably late when she gets to the locker room. The girls are gossiping; surprise, surprise. She just quietly changes as she catches up to the _Locker Talk_ of the day. 

"That girl's no joke, though," Harper, Katherine's fellow freshman, says. "I heard that Tommy Oliver got kicked out of her previous school for beating someone up so bad, they got confined to the hospital."

Katherine's spine suddenly straightens at the mention of Tommy's name. Unfortunately, she does it so fast that her elbow hits the wall of her locker as she's halfway into her shirt.

"Ow, fuck!"

"Whoa, what's happening there, Kat?"

Katherine finds herself with the entire cheer squad looking at her, head only partly covered by her shirt and her elbow still painfully throbbing. It was probably the shame at her undignified state that caused her to thoughtlessly say, "She isn't like that."

Rebecca raises a brow at her. "What are you talking about, Kat?"

"Tommy isn't a violent person at all," Katherine replies as she properly puts on her top. "That probabpy wasn't what she-" 

"But I saw the fight with my own two eyes," Harper claims. "She was like an _animal_."

Katherine's eyes narrow. She was the closest to the fight and the only animals there were Ty Flemming and his herd of jocks. She doesn't even think she saw Harper there. She was probably just retelling someone else's exaggerated version of the fight.

"I don't care about Tony Olson or whatever," Amanda says with a roll of her eyes. "The point is... Ty Flemming is too much of an embarassment to even have as an arm candy anymore."

Rebecca suspiciously perks up at the statement. "You're breaking up with him?"

" _Duh_. It's already bad enough that she let Kim punch his tooth out. No one wants to be seen hanging around a guy beat up by some freshman girl." Amanda adds as an after thought, "That includes all of you."

"Oh yeah," Rebecca nods. "Totes."

The other girls echo her and Katherine nods along numbly. She doesn't even think about the fact that Ty lied to her about not dating Amanda. She just feels guilty, for some odd reason. Maybe she should have done a better job at defending Tommy's honor. Tommy did the same for her, after all.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Students become even more wary of Tommy Oliver than they already were. Before, it was just cautious glances toward the new girl. Now that they've actually seen Tommy go at it with three seniors, students have started to actively avoid her. But Tommy doesn't even look bothered by it. If anything, she doesn't seem like she's even noticed their entire grade acting like frightened sheep due to her mere presence. Or maybe she just doesn't care.

No, no. A blockhead like her likely doesn't notice.

The only one brave enough to approach her is Tanya Sloan and her best friend Aisha Campbell when lunch break just started. Katherine stores her books and bag into her locker, eyes locked onto the three girls talking at the other end of the hall. Tanya has her notebook out and Aisha is keeping herself busy on her phone. Tommy's back is facing Katherine, her hands buried in her jacket pockets. 

Katherine stays by her locker, just waiting for Tanya's interview to be finished. She perks up when Tanya and Aisha finally wave goodbye. She makes a beeline for Tommy but gets yanked back by the hand. The string of unpleasant words she had prepared in her tongue gets caught there when she realizes that it was Rebecca who stopped her.

"Kat! God, finally. I've been looking _everywhere_ for you!"

Tommy is momentarily forgotten as she gives the junior a confused look. "Looked where? I'm just literally by my locker."

Rebecca waves a hand dismissively. "Not important. So I heard from Jessica who heard from Dianne that Ty blah-blah-blah, blah-blah."

Okay, no, she didn't _really_ say that. Rebecca may have only a handful of brain cells but she is perfectly capable of speech. Katherine just lost interest halfway because Tommy just turned a corner and is now out of sight.

"So, is it true?" Rebecca asks when Katherine has finally tuned back into the conversation.

Katherine blinks. "Sorry. Is what true?"

Rebecca rolls her eyes. "You are so _slow_ sometimes, Kat." Katherine's eye twitches at the flippant statement. _This_ coming from the girl who thought _somersault_ is spelled _summer salt_. "Is it true that Ty asked you to hook up with him and you refused?"

Katherine feels something unpleasant swirl in her stomach. If she admits to the truth, she's sure Amanda wouldn't be all to happy about it, even if the senior is now ashamed to be associated with him. She takes a moment to answer, most likely further convincing Rebecca that Katherine is stupid. She plasters on a fake smile and an equally unauthentic laugh. "Of course not! Why would he be interested in _me_? Whoever your source is must have just misheard or something."

Rebecca nods, thankfully convinced. "Yeah, you're right." She smirks to herself. "If he wanted to cheat on Amanda, he would have done it with someone like me, right?"

"Totally," she reaffirms with a smile, trying her darnedest to hide how disgusted she is that a girl would be proud of being the third party in a relationship.

She follows Rebecca to the cafeteria since running to catch up to Tommy would just be plain embarrassing by now. She doesn't even know why she wanted to approach Tommy in the first place. It's not like she needed to ask about an assignment or anything. 

She has no idea what Rebecca is talking about now. She's just pondering about the complications of friendships in high school as she numbly nods whenever Rebecca turns to her to get a reaction. It just upsets her to think that Rebecca would be willing to be an instrument to breaking Amanda's heart when she would often link arms with the senior girl wherever they go. Just at the start of Katherine's freshman year, Amanda and Kimberly looked inseparable, but a few weeks ago Amanda wrote a bunch of things in Kimberly's locker that made Kimberly cry.

Are these really the kind of people Katherine wants to be friends with?

The cafeteria is a mess of teenagers that can't seem to sit still and occassionally flying food. But amidst the chaos, she finds Tommy sitting at an empty table. She's happily munching on her fries that really should be going straight to her thighs judging by how regularly she eats them. But Tommy makes a habit of wearing shorts that show off toned legs. Maybe she works out?

Katherine shakes her head out of _that_ train of thought. Wow, this place sure is packed and hot. She needs to sit down.

She turns back to Rebecca, but she's left Katherine to talk to a tall guy with impressive arms. Katherine huffs like an abandoned dog. She doesn't know why she's sad. She doesn't even like Rebecca.

She looks back to Tommy's table, now also occupied by Adam Park. Katherine quirks a brow at the glances he keeps throwing Tommy's way. Everyone else has been avoiding Tommy. Why does Adam look like he wants to _talk_ to her? Does he like her? Maybe he likes hot, scary girls?

Katherine bristles. No. She takes her food tray and marches up to Tommy's table instead of the one her squad occupies.She can't let Tommy end up with a _nerd_ , of all people. It's what a friend should do, right?

At least she'll be a better friend than the other cheerleaders.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

**Dummy Oliver:**  
_my dad forced me to come watch the game with him today. guess ill finally get to see u in action_

Katherine feels herself smile more than she makes a conscious effort of doing it. She types a quick reply before going back to changing into her cheer uniform.

**me:**  
_im a little offended it took you until now to watch me cheer tbh ): <  
and ur dad had to drag you???_

**Dummy Oliver**  
_i dont really like american football all that much. i prefer to play games than watch them anyway  
and u never asked me to watch._

Katherine bites her lip. That _is_ true. It isn't really a big deal, whether Tommy came or not. It's not like Katherine's the one playing. She doesn't need Tommy to cheer for her since Katherine is the one who supposed to do it in the first place.

She's about to reply that Tommy did have a point and it was totally fine when she receives another text from Tommy.

**Dummy Oliver**  
_if it means so much to u, ill come to every single game youll be cheering for_

Katherine blinks. Why is her smile so big?

**me:**  
_its not really a big deal...  
but yeh, sure. if you want and all_

**Dummy Oliver**  
_all u had to do was say yes, katherine  
im rolling my eyes. just sayin. since u cant see them_

Katherine feels herself flush in embarrassment at the first response. Then the second text has her running out of the locker room and to the barriers that separate the field and the bleachers. She scans the crowd of students and parents - she waves at her mother when she spots her - until she spots Tommy's letterman jacket. Tommy is talking to a handsome man with red hair and green eyes. Katherine had to do a double-take. She suspected Tommy was at least biracial, but she didn't exactly know what to expect her father to look like.

Somehow, it's the red haired man who notices Katherine. He taps Tommy on the shoulder and points at the cheerleader. Tommy's eyes land on her and she smiles that dazzling smile before making her way down to meet Katherine by the barrier.

"Nice pony tail," Tommy comments and Katherine consciously runs her fingers through it. "You really are a cheerleader."

"It's not like it's that big of a change or anything," she mumbles. "Nice beanie."

Tommy doesn't have her hair up like usual due to the dark green beanie on her head. It's a really good look for her. It makes Katherine wish Tommy would let her hair down more often.

"Kat!"

The two girls watch Amanda impatiently wave Katherine over to the other cheerleaders.

"Captain's calling," Katherine tells Tommy as she slowly backs away.

"Good luck."

Katherine grins, amused. "Are you cheering for a _cheerleader_ , Oliver?"

"Don't fall on your ass. Or you head. Is all I'm saying." Tommy does a half-hearted fist pump. "Go Tigers!"

Amanda gives her a funny look when she goes back. Katherine ignores it and winks and smiles at Tommy during the routine every chance she gets.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Rocky De Santos, the freshman running back, gives the Tigers their winning score that night. His teammates carry him in celebration and he points at Katherine with a huge grin. Katherine only smiles back and waves her pom poms.

"Party at my place!" one of the football players says and everyone cheers as if they were all invited.

The spectators dispersing now, ready to go home. She watches Tommy go with her father and feels herself deflate a little. But then Tommy turns her eyes to her, waves with a smile and points at her own phone before finally leaving. Katherine goes straight back to the locker room when she finally understands what Tommy meant. She fishes out her phone from her bag and laughs at the text message.

**Dummy Oliver**  
_dunno what happened with the game but the flips u did were super cool_

She sends a quick thanks and an eye roll emoji before changing out of her uniform and into warmer clothes. The cheers of Angel Grove High students can be heard from inside the mostly empty room. She doesn't bother going back, and she doesn't entertain the idea of coming with them. Parties really only make her uncomfortable. The discomfort would be doubled now that Ty has propositioned her before. Parties aren't really her scene anyway.

With her bag slung on one shoulder, she's ready to go home, ahead of the other cheerleaders like usual. But she stops by the door when she sees Rocky waiting for her. His hair is messy now that it's out of his helmet but he's still in his football jersey.

"Hey," she greets. "You did great today. Congratulations."

Rocky rubs the back of his neck. "Thanks. I'm glad I caught up with you. You always go home early. And you never come to the after game parties."

She laughs, hopes it doesn't sound too wry. "I'm not really much of a party girl." She doesn't like how stuffy and noisy it is.

"That's cool," Rocky says. "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out somewhere more low key. W-With me."

Katherine looks up from her phone where she was reading her mother's text that she's waiting for her at the parking lot. "Are you... Are you asking me out?"

Rocky bashfully smiles. "Yeah? I really like you. You like me, too... right?"

"Oh."

Oh, this isn't like all those times a boy would casually flirt with her for being pretty. His face is flushing and his eyes are struggling to look at her. He likes her. He genuinely _likes_ her.

Oh _shit_.

She can't just laugh this off, or flip her hair and say thank you. This is genuine affection. The only way to come out of this situation to please Rocky is to reciprocate and go out with him. But she can't. She may have faked her way through her social circles, but she isn't going to fake her love life. That's the one _real_ thing she desires.

Tommy was right. She _is_ a hopeless romantic. Ugh.

"I'm really sorry." She winces when she sees his face fall. This alarmingly feels like kicking a puppy. "I don't really feel the same way."

"But... I thought..."

"I apologize if I made you think that I saw you differently. You're a great guy." Really, he is. Way better than Ty Flemming at least. "But I only see you as a good friend."

Rocky's shoulders slump. "Oh."

Katherine feels terrible. Rocky just scored his team's winning score despite being the rookie freshman. He should be happy. 

"Hey, come on. I'm sure there are some other girls out there interested in you."

"Yeah. Right," he says but he doesn't look like he was listening to her. "I... I gotta go."

Katherine bites her lip as she watches Rocky walk away. She says one last time, "I'm really sorry," but it was too soft for him to hear.

"Well, what do you know?"

Katherine almost drops her phone at the sound of Amanda's voice. She reveals herself with the rest of the squad behind her, all of them looking on with a mixture of intrigue and amusement.

Katherine flushes with embarrassment. "You've been there this whole time?!" 

"Kaaaaat!" Rebecca squeals and jostles Katherine by the arm. "He was _cute_! Why'd you turn him down?!"

"I-"

"He wasn't her type, obviously!" Michelle says, like she knew Katherine _so_ well. "She just probably had fun flirting with him."

Katherine blinks at the sudden attention on her. "Well, yeah, I don't like him like that but-"

Harper gasps. "So you've just been stringing him along?" She slaps Katherine's arm lightly and says, "That's so evil!" but she has a smile on her face.

"Who knew?" Amanda says and they all shut their mouth. All it takes for the chatter of a group of girls to die down is for the Alpha Girl to speak, it seems. "Our little Kat is actually a heart-breaker. I'm impressed."

Katherine hangs on to those last two words. She just impressed _the_ Amanda Clarke. She couldn't believe it. 

"It... It probably wasn't a big deal," Katherine says and she means that no one could possibly like her that much to be _heart broken_. 

But they either ignored her words or didn't hear it. Amanda wraps an arm around Katherine's shoulder and the younger girl immediately clams up. "It's time to party, girls!"

Katherine actually enjoys the party this time. It's different when you have company.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Katherine's been distracted lately, apparently. She finally feels like she's a part of the squad instead of just the girl they throw in the air during routines. She tells herself all the time that she would go eat lunch with Tommy soon, like she usually does, but she always lets herself get dragged back to Amanda and her squad's table.

She's just happy to finally be included. She just wants to soak in the feeling of finally being a part of them before going back. She can't leave their table now that they actually notice her.

That's what she tells herself.

She ignores the voice in the back of her head telling her that it shouldn't matter anyway because Tommy is also her friend. She was the one who said so in the first place, but Katherine's the one who abandons her.

She thinks of Amanda saying that Katherine only strung Rocky along for the attention. It makes her think that she might be doing the same thing when she promised Tommy her friendship. 

But she ignores those thoughts, instead listens to Amanda Clarke and goes with the cheerleaders to the mall.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Adam Park is one of those nerds who answers every question the teacher asks and strives for nothing less than a perfect score. He takes group and partner projects as seriously as one should marriage. If you don't put in the work you should in your assignment and leave him to do all the work, he won't hesitate to leave your name out of the paper. The academic equivalent of a divorce with a prenuptial agreement.

So you can't really blame Katherine's reluctance when Adam chose her of all people for his partner in the history class they share. Not to say that Katherine won't do any work. She just doesn't want to work with a hard ass, is all.

"I think you're a little lost," Katherine tells him and eyes the other student Adam usually has as a partner. She doesn't even remember his name. Steven something or other. "He looks a little heartbroken."

But Adam ignores that and pulls a chair so he can sit facing her. "I'm going to ask you a question. And if you answer honestly, I'll do this project alone and keep your name in it."

Katherine's brows almost rise up to her hairline in disbelief. But then she narrows her eyes in suspicion. "This isn't going to be some pervy question, is it?"

Adam's pale face colors an amazing shade of red and he hisses indignantly, "Why the hell would I ask something like that?"

"So, it's not-"

" _No_."

She holds up her hand. "Okay, geeze."

"... dude, should I be worried?"

"It's nothing. What was the question?"

Adam scratches his chin, looking hesitant. Just when Katherine thinks he'll change his mind, he says, "Did you really want to be Tommy's friend?"

At first Katherine is surprised by the unexpected question. Then she feels incredulous. "Of course I want -- I _am_ her friend."

"Then act like it, Katherine. Stop treating her like a used and worn gadget just because the popular girls seem to care about you now."

Katherine huffs for being called out. He's right, but her pride is too strong to not have her at least reply with, "That sounds so dramatic."

Adam only crosses his arms and quirks an impatient brow.

Katherine's shoulders slump and she lets her chin fall to her palm. "Okay, you're right. I'm a terrible friend." She presses her lips to a thin line before straightening up again. "I'll do better. I promise."

Adam nods firmly, satisfied for now. It makes Katherine feel like she just got scolded by her father. Or, well, it's what she assumes it would feel like.

"Why do you care, anyway?" she asks. When Adam only furrows his brow in confusion, he adds, "Are you into her or something?"

Adam scoffs. It doesn't seem defensive at all. "Do I have to be into a girl to want to help her?" Katherine shrugs. "I just didn't like seeing her pout so much lately. It was a lot more off putting than her glares."

Katherine laughs dryly. "That's because you glare at people as much as she does." She laughs again when he points that glare at her. "But _she_ doesn't mean to do it. She just has a resting bitch face. She's actually really nice."

Katherine only realizes the goofy smile on her face when she notices that Adam is staring. She clears her throat as she wipes it off.

"Yeah, I noticed," Adam says and he's already writing things on his notebook. Now that his goal to give Katherine a stern talking to has been achieved, he's probably now content to continue with the project like the over-achiever he is.

Katherine gets distracted when her phone vibrates in her pocket. She smiles at the coincidence that it's from Tommy and chuckles after reading the message. She sees Adam curiously look at her so she says, "Tommy just invited me to go to Krispey Kreme."

Adam exhales audibly through the nose. It's probably the closest to a laughter she'll get from him. "Perfect timing."

She replies with an excited yes before moving her chair so that it's closer to Adam's. 

"I said I'll do it alone," Adam says but he lets her take a look at what he's already written.

"I don't like being dead weight."

Really, she normally would have just grabbed the opportunity to do nothing, but this is her way of saying thank you. She needed that.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

"It's so weird how this place doesn't have a Starbuck's," Tommy whispers when they've finally gotten their order and taken a seat on one of the tables.

Katherine giggles mid-bite of her chocolate-glazed doughnut. It must have been louder than she intended, because it catches the attention of the man and woman sitting at the table beside them. The man with a ponytail that unironically fits him only blinks before going back to his phone. The woman smiles at Katherine before she resumes what she was saying to her companion.

"Well you better get used to this if you plan on staying a while, City Girl," Katherine says to Tommy, "because this is all Angel Grove has to offer. And you don't need to whisper the name. The employees aren't gonna murder you for mentioning a rival that isn't even here."

Tommy raises a skeptical brow. "Maybe there's no Starbuck's here because they _eliminated_ the competetion through questionable methods. You never know."

Katherine shakes her head with a grin. It's only been, what, a week? But she's missed her. "You're such a doof. I can't even tell if you're serious or just shitting me."

Tommy's nose crinkles just like it often does whenever Katherine swears. Sometimes Katherine would do it on purpose just to see Tommy make that face. It's amusing.

But then Tommy smirks and that makes Katherine, well... _not_ amused. "Funny that you're calling me a doof when _you're_ the one with chocolate at the corner of you're mouth."

Katherine flushes in embarassment. "Dammit."

"Here, I got it." 

Tommy leans over their table, one hand on Katherine's cheek to steady her head as the other one's thumb rubs at the corner of her mouth. Katherine is left with a face pink with shame when Tommy moves back to her chair. Then she turns _red_ when Tommy licks the chocolate from her thumb instead of using the damn napkin to wipe it off.

"You're terrible," Katherine grumbles into her straw. 

Tommy looks up from her own treat, clueless to her horrible display of manners. "Hm?"

"Nothing."

The little bell at the top of the shop's door chimes and the pleasant sound is followed by the ruckus of five excitable teenagers entering. Katherine's back straightens when she notices that it's Kimberly and her mismatched group of friends. 

Later, she'll think about how odd it is that the noisy one with black hair knowingly grins at Tommy who lightly chuckles. The only thing she notices at the moment is how closely Kimberly clings to the arm of the only other girl in the group. Kimberly says something to her with pleading brown eyes. The shorter girl rolls her own and says something that makes Kimberly cheer and lean down to kiss her cheek.

Tommy's brief exchange with the boy will only really be a passing thought. But Katherine will have trouble sleeping, wondering about how long in a friendship she should wait before she could kiss a friend on the cheek just because.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

The girls don't take it very well the first time Katherine leaves them to sit instead at her table with Tommy. Katherine expected it, and she told herself that Tommy's company was well worth the judging looks and snide remarks from her squad. The only reason they don't outright harass Katherine over it is because Amanda let her. Katherine doesn't know why, not yet. Katherine just likes to think that she has earned enough of the senior girl's respect to be allowed to hang out with her own choice of peers from time to time, unlikely as it may be.

But just because they don't insult Katherine to her face doesn't mean they don't do it behind her back. Like they're doing right now.

"Do I have something on my face?" Tommy asks. "Because those cheerleaders have been looking at me all funny since lunch period started."

Katherine sighs. She feels like she's being judged by her aristocratic family for sneaking out to be with a peasant.

Platonically, of course.

"You're fine," Katherine says and she resists the urge to turn around and look. She knows being noticed would only encourage them. "They're just bothered that I'm sitting here instead."

"Feels like I'm having a child custody battle with the cheerleaders over you," Tommy says.

They hear someone snort from the other end of the table. Their eyes land on Adam whose cheeks redden when he realizes their attention is on him. He doesn't acknowledge them, just keeps his _unmoving_ eye on his book. Katherine considers ignoring him, but it would feel wrong, since he was the one who gave Katherine the right push to be a little more bold if she wanted to keep her friendship with Tommy.

She's already friends with Angel Grove High's "bad girl". Befriending a nerd wouldn't be the worst thing to do.

"Hey, Adam," Katherine calls out but the boy ignores her. Katherine huffs. She steals a fry from Tommy and ignores her indignant cry before throwing it to his face. She answers his scandalized expression with a sweet smile. "Hey, project partner."

"What."

"Tommy and I are going to Krispey Kreme together later-"

"We are? We just went yest-"

"-and I was wondering if you wanted to come with." She shrugs. "To talk about the project."

Tommy leans closer to Katherine to whisper, "I didn't bring any extra money with me today."

Katherine rolls her eyes. "I'll pay for whatever you want."

Tommy leans back and grins like a satisfied child. "Neat."

Adam scoffs. "I'm fine. I don't need your charity."

Katherine steals another fry. "I don't know what you're talking about. You'll be paying for your own shit there, partner."

"Don't be fooled by the potty mouth," Tommy says. "She's actually really nice if you filter out all the swear words."

Adam sighs. "Whatever."

They have a half-finished project and a less uptight Adam by the time they leave Krispey Kreme. Katherine's starting to understand why Kimberly's with the friends she has, mismatched as they may seem to be.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\

Being a cheerleader isn't just about looking pretty for Katherine. It may be hard to believe, but Katherine's favorite part about being a cheerleader is doing the routines. Not the male attention, or the party invitations, or the popularity. 

Katherine loves the thrill she gets whenever she gets thrown in the air and the sense of accomplishment that washes over her whenever she lands after doing a perfect flip. She's proud of how nimble and flexible she is. Sure, she could still basically do all those things in gymnastics, but it just isn't as _fun_.

"Wow, Katherine," Amanda says as she wipes sweat from her face with a towel. "You might be even better than Rebecca," she teases.

Of course, she is. Rebecca can't even do a cartwheel without whining about her nails. Katherine has been working hard to improve every practice just so she can be better than she was when she failed try-outs, just so she can prove that she deserved being in the team.

Now she's better than most of her seniors. Amanda's trusted her to do more complicated and dangerous moves that the other girls couldn't. She's said Katherine could be an asset once the cheer competition starts.

She isn't just Kimberly Hart's replacement anymore.

But she doesn't any of these things. Just because they now acknowledge her existence doesn't mean she could taunt her upperclassmen. Envy within a group of girls is unavoidable, but there's no need to fan its flames. So when Rebecca yelps an indignant "Hey!", she humbly thanks Amanda and says nothing else.

Katherine immediately goes to her phone as soon as they go back to the locker room to change. She feels a pout form on her mouth. Tommy has sent her a message saying she won't be able to go to Krispey Kreme with Katherine today. 

"Why so sad, Kat?" Harper asks. "Is date night with that nerd cancelled?"

The girls "oooh" while Katherine tilts her head at them, confused. "What nerd?"

"You know the one! Adam Park! You've got him wrapped around your finger so he'd do whatever schoolwork you want."

Rebecca laughs. "Classic."

"That's what every one thinks?" Katherine says, dumbfounded.

"It's basically the same with Rocky, right?" Michelle says. "Ooh, and that lesbian Gomez protected. The one who beat up Ty."

Katherine's heart skips a beat and she doesn't know why. "Tommy?"

"It's a smart move," Amanda muses but Katherine doesn't feel pride swell within her like it usually does whenever their captain compliments her. Too many confusing thoughts are swirling in her mind. "You made the most dangerous girl in your grade your bitch."

Katherine feels herself snap at the single word. "Don't call her that!"

The room falls silent, the tension in the room thick enough to suffocate her. She may already be on the verge of choking, now that she's noticed. She's breathing so heavily. Her eyes are unfocused on the floor, her heart beating into her ears. She just raised her voice at Amanda. She's nervous and scared, but she's also mad. She _furious_. Tommy is the sweetest person she knows. No one has the right to call her that, even Amanda Clarke.

Foot steps pad towards Katherine until a pair of feet are in front of hers. Katherine looks up and finds Amanda staring her down. Amanda has green eyes like Tommy, but hers aren't so vibrant or warm.

"Did you just raise your voice at me?" Amanda asks in a hushed voice that contrasts the intense look in her eyes.

Katherine swallows. She's afraid. She isn't even going to pretend that she isn't. But she's not just going to bow her head like she always does.

"I just-" Katherine clears her throat of the tremble in her voice. "Tommy is my _friend_. Don't call her that. Please."

Amanda's brows rise. She leans back with her arms crossed. She looks intrigued. "Really? And what if I do? Are you gonna tell Oliver and sic her on me? Have her beat me up like she did Ty?"

"What? No?!" Katherine shakes her head. "Tommy isn't what people thinks she is. She punched Ty because he was being a dick. But she isn't the type to just enjoy hurting people. She's really sweet, and kind, and-"

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think _you're_ the one who _likes_ her."

Katherine feels her face heat up. "I don't. I'm not _gay_!"

"Of course, you're not," Rebecca butts in with an uncomfortable laugh. She steps in between them, an attempt to cut the tension. "You were just kidding, right, Amanda?" She grabs Amanda by the arm and says with a hushed tone, "Come on, girl, we don't need the squad to fall apart _again_."

In any other circumstance, she would have been amazed that it was Rebecca of all people who stepped up to stop whatever it is that's happening between Katherine and Amanda. But her mind is spinning too much.

Is Tommy really gay? If so, then why does Amanda know and Katherine doesn't?

Why is Katherine even freaking out over the possibility of Tommy being gay? Katherine doesn't have anything against gay people. She shouldn't care.

And _Katherine's_ not gay. Not for Tommy Oliver. Even if Tommy has gorgeous eyes, an amazing smile, and an infectious laugh. So what if she sometimes catches herself wanting to pull off the tie of Tommy's pony tail so she can run her fingers through her silky hair? Just because she would sometimes feel her heart skip a beat whenever Tommy does something charming doesn't mean she-

" _Yes_ , I was just kidding," Amanda says. "Geeze."

Rebecca claps. "Awesome. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I really wanna go to the mall after-" she gestures vaguely with her hand- "all that. Who wants to come with?"

All the girls except for Katherine express an affirmative. She ignores the whispers and Amanda's heavy gaze on her. She leans her back against the cool metal of her locker when they all leave. 

She closes her eyes. Images keep flashing in her mind, of Tommy being with whoever lucky girl she falls in love with. Someone who gets to hold her hand and treat her the way a girl like Tommy Oliver deserves to be treated.

But then the images reveal Katherine's face on that lucky girl and her eyes snap open in surprise.

Shit.


	3. Chapter 3

Katherine likes Tommy Oliver. In a romantic way. In a gay way.

Katherine is _gay_. 

"Holy shit," Katherine hisses under her breath. 

There's no one else in the football stadium since football and cheer practice are over for the day. She ran up to the bleachers to gather her thoughts, but all she can seem to do is watch as they get more and more unorganised. She isn't processing at all. She's _glitching_.

"Holy fucking shit."

"I swear, Zack, call yourself that again and I'll -"

Katherine's head shoots up from where it's hidden behind her knees. The girl with yellow highlights in her hair is standing there, phone propped against her ear. It's Trini Gomez, the girl Kimberly frequently hangs out with, the one Amanda trash talks for being a "dyke".

Katherine wants to throw up.

"Hey, Zack, let me call you back," Trini says to her phone before hanging up. 

Katherine stands despite her weak knees. She means to quietly make her leave now that she isn't alone, but a firm grip to her elbow stops her.

"Hey, wait," Trini softly says. "Are you hurt?"

Katherine shoves the hand away. "I don't know what you're talking about," is Katherine's tight reply.

A quirk of a brow is Trini's only reaction at the rude response. She crosses her arms and nods at Katherine. "You're crying, _chica_."

Katherine blinks and tears fall from her lashes. She wipes the dampness in her cheeks away and sniffs. "I know. Why do you care?" 

If Trini is irritated by her attitude, Katherine can't tell. "Did Ty Flemming harass you again?"

"What? Why -"

"I have a friend who surprisingly loves to gossip," Trini dryly says. "So? Did he make you cry? Do I have an excuse to punch him?"

Katherine's brows knit together. She's so confused that her tears have stopped. Why is she asking, as if she cares? "No, he didn't. No one made me cry. I'm just..."

"Just what?"

She's confused. She never had a guy she liked enough, but she never thought it would mean she's gay. But now it makes sense, and at the same time it's extremely confusing. Why couldn't she just be normal? Romance is complicated enough without falling for another _girl_. Let alone her close friend.

She's also terrified. What would her mother say? Can she hide this from Amanda? She'll definitely have a target on her back if that happens.

Would she be able to handle that? Katherine isn't made of glass, but she isn't as strong-willed as she wishes she could be.

Maybe she should talk about it. Trini would understand. But she isn't ready for that. Saying it out loud would make it real, not to mention talking about it.

No. She isn't even sure yet. A brief flash of imagination doesn't mean anything. It could just be an intrusive thought.

Can intrusive thoughts feel so much like a self-indulgent fantasy?

Katherine swallows. "Nothing. It's none of your business anyway."

She turns and leaves. Trini scoffs, doesn't stop her. Katherine doesn't know if she's disappointed of relieved. She would have broken down if Trini tried again.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\

Homophobic slurs covering a row of lockers from the O section becomes the talk of the day the next day. Katherine runs to the defaced lockers as soon as the bell for last period rings. The row is surrounded by curious students and concerned faculty members. One of the lockers is Tommy's. Katherine is sure she's the target. She just doesn't know why the other nine were vandalized.

"I wonder who it is," Katherine hears a student say. He's a freshman, too, but Katherine doesn't remember his name. "Hey, Tanya, got any idea?"

"Nope," Tanya crosses her arms. "And I don't plan on finding out. I'm not interested in outing anyone."

The boy shudders, "At least it's not a faggot."

Tanya slaps him on the arm. "Ass."

Aisha is uncharacteristically mad as she chastises him, too. "That was completely unnecessary."

Adam arrives at the scene, stopping just beside Katherine. His permanent frown deepens when he reads the slurs covering the lockers.

"One of these is Tommy's, right?" he asks in a voice only loud enough for just Katherine to hear.

Katherine nods. "Can you try looking for her if she's still here? I... need to talk to someone."

Adam grabs Katherine by the arm before she could leave. "You know something." It sounds like an accusation, but Katherine knows by now that he's just worried.

She shrugs the hand off of her. "Just go check if she's okay."

Katherine finds Amanda at the quad sitting on the grass as she laughs about something with Michelle and Rebecca. "Did you do it?" Katherine asks as soon as she's in front of them.

Amanda raises a brow. "Hello to you, too, Kat," she quips and the girls snicker.

But Katherine ignores the sassy remark and repeats, "Did you do it?"

"You'll have to be more specific."

"Ten lockers were vandalized with homophobic slurs. But I know it was meant for Tommy. And I know you're the ones behind it." Katherine feels bile rise up at her throat when a memory flashes through her mind. "You did the same thing to Kimberly Hart."

Amanda's smirk gets wiped off at the mention of her old friend. "Kimmy had that coming to her. She deserved it."

"Does Tommy deserve that, too?"

"Of course, she does," she answers and it sickens Katherine how sure she sounds. "I did everyone a favor by exposing her. A dyke like her was hiding in plain sight! Can you imagine how many clueless girls she's perved on while changing in the locker room?"

"You don't even know if she does that. You don't even know her!"

Amanda narrows her eyes. "You're doing it again. You know it's your fault this is even happening."

"What are you even talking about?"

Amanda stands so now she's the one looking down on Katherine. "I wasn't going to do anything to the freshman. But then you had to go and speak against me."

Katherine's jaw clenches. "I know what you're doing. I've _seen_ your mind games and I don't care for it." She spreads her arms, an invitation. "So you're mad at me? Then come after me! Keep Tommy out of it. Kick me out of the team if you want!"

Rebecca stands, too. "Now, now, Kat." She forces out an uncomfortable laugh. "We can't do that." She tries a cheerful smile. "You're one of us now!"

"I'm not-"

"Don't act like you're not a bitch like us, Kat," Amanda says. "Doing nothing while we talk shit about the nobodies is just as bad." She jabs a thumb at Katherine's chest. "And you're the one who got your 'friend' involved. You were the one who put her on our radar when all you had to do was stay in our circle. So do everyone a favor and stay put this time."

Amanda makes sure to roughly bump Katherine's shoulder with hers as she leaves with Michelle and Rebecca on her tail. Like they always are. Her phone vibrates when she gets a message from Adam and she's numb when she reads it.

 **Grumpy Gramp:**  
found her at the softball field's bleachers. she's a little upset.

She wants to run to the softball field and hug Tommy with all she has. She wants to tell her that she's far from what all those words say because she's beautiful and kind and one of the most amazing people Katherine knows.

Tommy Oliver is better than all those people think she is. She's better than Amanda Clark. She's better than Katherine Hillard, because Tommy wouldn't run away like the coward Katherine is.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\

Katherine may have barely average grades, but she isn't a complete idiot.

She knows how Amanda fights. She targets her opponents' emotional vulnerabilities; their insecurities, their desires, and whoever or whatever they hold dear. Katherine used to admire that part of her.

Katherine liked that Amanda always fought back. She knew how to make people know who she is and she made damn well sure they understand what she's capable of when they forget. 

But Katherine was there at every battle Amanda fought. Katherine saw the difference between what was called for and what wasn't. Soon, she noticed that the latter was most often the case.

Now that she has become the opponent, Katherine desires now more than ever to be as strong as her. To know how to fight back. But she can't.

She knows that Amanda's taunting, but she still can't help feeling the way she does. She can't help the guilt that creeps its way into her chest whenever she hears the students whisper about Tommy, or when Adam looks at her, trying to figure out what she knows. 

She can't help feeling like it's her fault that Tommy got exposed. He heart aches at the apprehension in Tommy's green eyes, at the slump in her shoulders and the sadness in her expression. 

Katherine avoids her because she doesn't deserve someone like Tommy Oliver. She might never have been the kind of person who would harass people, but she wasn't the kind of person to stop them either. Not like the fierce Tanya who isn't afraid to tell people off. Or kind-hearted Aisha who talks to Tommy with a warm smile like nothing's changed. Or loyal Adam who stays by Tommy's side the whole time.

Tommy will be fine without her. She always has been. In the first place, it was Katherine that came to her out of pathetic loneliness.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

But Katherine doesn't run away from Amanda. Everyone knows you shouldn't turn your back to the enemy. When she arrives for Saturday's cheer practice, she doesn't shrink from Amanda's gaze, even when eight more sets of eyes stare her down.

"What's up?" Amanda says when Katherine doesn't turn tail and leave. "Don't you have a date with your dyke, Kat?"

Katherine's hand painfully clench at her bag's strap. "I'm still a part of the squad. I earned my place here and I'm keeping it." Like hell she's going to let Amanda take that away from her. "And don't call Tommy that."

"Whatever," Amanda says because she won't admit that Katherine's right. They can't just replace her. Not if they want to win this season. She tells the girls, "Her girlfriend probably doesn't like her anymore and she has nowhere else to run to."

Katherine doesn't reply. She doesn't owe them an explanation. She doesn't really know what she would say either.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Katherine stays back when practice finishes. She's had enough of the whispers and poorly hidden laughter. She lets them go ahead to use the lockers so they can gossip about her in private. Enduring all of this is a lot more tiring than she expected. 

Like any other teenager, she busies herself with her phone as she waits. When she finds herself hovering by Tommy's name in her contacts list for the third time, she puts it away with a groan. 

She has a crush. She has a big gay crush on Tommy and it's fucking annoying. Why did it have to be her?

She snorts as soon as the thought crosses her mind.

Really. How could anyone _not_ fall for her?

After almost an hour of staring up at the sky, she makes her way for the locker room, hoping it's empty. She feels disappointed when she hears voices. She sighs. Ah well. She can handle two people. But she freezes by the door when she recognizes who the two people are: Amanda and Kimberly.

"Seriously? You're going too far, Amanda."

A scoff. "You're not the one who gets to lecture me about going too far, Kimmy. Not after you sent that picture of me."

Katherine's eyes widen, a hand making its way to her open mouth. That's why Amanda hates Kimberly so much. It's why the two people who used to be such great friends are now on opposing sides. 

"Tommy and I are different."

"Oh because you're a bitch?"

"Because she didn't deserve it, did she? I know what I did and I take responsibility for it. I'll take whatever shit you throw my way because I know I deserve it." There's a pause before Kimberly continues speaking, "You can say I'm the cause of all the terrible shit going on in your life all you want, and I'll accept that, too. But don't you _dare_ use me as an excuse to be an asshole. You can hurt me all you want, but don't involve kids like Tommy Oliver in your bitch fit."

A loud crack echoes out of the locker room and Katherine jumps in surprise at the sudden sound. The slap is followed by dull thuds. It doesn't sound like Kimberly is fighting back. Katherine's feet are rooted to the floor, her back glued to the wall as she listens to Amanda's frustrated grunts and helpless sobs.

"I hate you," Amanda says through her tears.

"I know."

"You ruined my life."

"I did."

"I will never forgive you."

"I don't expect you to."

"Then why do I miss you?"

It takes a long time for Kimberly to answer. "I don't know. You've always been hard to figure out, Mandy."

Another scoff. Amanda sniffs once before she comes out of the doorway. Her still damp eyes widen when she sees Katherine standing there. Katherine expects Amanda to explode again, maybe hit her, too. But Amanda only clenches her jaw, flips her hair, and walks away.

"Eavesdropping isn't nice," Kimberly says from where she's leaning against the doorway and Katherine's heart jumps into her throat for a third time within the fifteen minutes she's been there. 

"Sorry, I... I don't know why I stayed. I heard Tommy's name and I just..." Katherine wipes at her eyes. She doesn't know she's crying. Fucking sympathy tears. "I'm sorry."

Kimberly shrugs. For someone who got hit by a tall girl like Amanda, Kimberly seems unscathed. "I don't mind if you tell everyone else what I did. I'm just warning you. If you wanna spread rumors about Amanda breaking down, she'll bite back and make you regret it."

"I won't! I'm... not that kind of bitch."

Kimberly's head tilts to the side. "Oh yeah? What kind are you?"

It's Katherine's time to shrug. "The crappy friend kind?"

"Ah, I'm pretty sure I'm the defending champion of that title."

Katherine doesn't laugh. "I looked up to you guys, you know?" she suddenly confesses. "I was a nobody. I had nothing special about me that would make people notice me. I didn't think I could ever make people know I exist. When that picture of Amanda spread, I thought that would be the end for her. But I didn't see her lowering her head in shame. She kept looking up, like there wasn't anything about her to not be proud of. I figured, if she could drag herself from that, then I can do it, too. You did the same thing."

Kimberly's nose crinkles. "Not really. And Amanda and I are hardly the best candidates for role models. You should think about choosing other people."

"Alright. Who would you recommend?" Katherine lets herself slide a little against the wall. "'Cause I feel like shit right now and need the secrets to unlocking my own character development."

Kimberly looks at her with mild amusement and Katherine blushes at the attention.

Shit. It wasn't just admiration that she felt about Kimberly, was it?

"When I told a friend that I hated myself," Kimberly begins to say, "he told me that I should try becoming the kind of person I want to be. And -" she laughs shortly -"when I told that to another friend, she said the same thing, basically. But she also said that labels, expectations, and reputations... they're all over-rated. I should do what I feel is right and fuck everyone else who would think otherwise."

Katherine finds herself smiling. "That sounds about right."

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Katherine wants to be worthy of being called Tommy's friend. So she works to be that kind of person. No more being wary of her image or Amanda's approval. She has no need for those.

She forgets standing on egg shells, she rips off her mask, and takes off her filter. She flips off the jocks who joke about "straightening" Tommy out. She rolls her eyes at the girls who bad mouth Tommy but throw fake smiles and insincere compliments her way. 

The pedestal she worked hard to build for herself crumbles, small and low as it may be compared to the likes of Amanda Clarke. But she doesn't feel as regretful as she expects. 

"Wow," Rocky says with a whistle. He just witnessed Katherine cuss out a few girls gossiping about Tommy during a jog for Gym class. He jogs in pace with her, an impressed smile thrown her way. "Did I know a different Katherine or were you holding out on us this whole time?"

Katherine blows at a lock of hair that got away from her ponytail. "I just... got tired of caring, I guess."

Rocky smiles. "I like it."

Katherine warily starts, "Rocky..."

"No, don't worry. I don't mean it like that. Now that I can see who you really are I realize you aren't my type anyway." When Katherine raises a brow, he hastily adds, "Not that your goody-goody act was better. You're just different. And it's pretty cool." He stops jogging and Katherine does, too. He holds out a fist and Katherine looks incredulously at it. "Friends, right?"

Katherine rolls her eyes and bumps her fist with his. "Friends, yeah."

A a loud blow of the whistle surprises the two freshmen. Their teacher bellows, "Stop flirting and keep walking!"

Rocky laughs and Katherine does the same. It's her first smile since she last talked to Tommy.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

"Come on, Katherine. You can do this. It's just Tommy. Just buy her a basket of fries and she's happy. No, no. She deserves better than that. She deserves a hundred baskets!" She takes one look at her hysterical face in the mirror before grimacing and letting her forehead fall against the school bathroom's mirror. "The hell am I saying?"

She suddenly hears a flush from one of the closed stall doors. She didn't notice one was occupied. Shit.

She should run. Just because she decided to hell with what other people think doesn't mean she doesn't want an intact dignity. But then the door opens and she sighs in relief when it's only Aisha.

"Oh, hey," Katherine practically slumps against one of the sinks. "I didn't notice you there, sorry."

"Oh no, don't mind me," Aisha says as she washes her hands at the next sink. "Go on and psyche yourself up. Don't stop on my account."

"Hah, right." Katherine can only flush in embarassment. Aisha is one of the few people Katherine can never bring herself to snark at. "So, um... do you know where Tommy is?"

"Probably at your usual lunch table."

"With Adam, right." She has to apologize to Adam, too. He tries to not look affected, but Katherine also considers him a friend. She feels guilty for also ghosting him.

"Actually, Adam is with Tanya right now," Aisha says. 

"Oh?" A moment passes. "Oh...."

When Aisha's hands are finally dry, she pats Katherine on the arm. "She's alone. Sounds like the perfect time to work out whatever's going on between you two, huh?"

She leaves Katherine there, dumbstruck at the suspicious wink that got thrown her way.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

Tommy, actually, is _not_ alone. Dammit.

Her usual table with Tommy is now also occupied by Kimberly Hart and her friends. What the hell? Since when was Tommy all chummy with them?

That's fine. All she needs to do is walk up to them and ask for a moment of Tommy's time.

But then she sees Tommy smile at something Billy Cranston said and she freezes. She hasn't seen her smile like that in a while. She turns heel and barely dodges a random flying lettuce. She'll try next time. She doesn't want to be a bother.

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

_Can we talk_

Katherine has probably been staring at her screen for a whole minute now, with a goofy smile on her face and no shirt since she isn't done changing yet. 

She wipes it off when she notices Amanda's eyes on her. She stares back, doesn't back down. She thought Amanda would make life even more difficult for her since she got caught eavesdropping on her conversation with Kimberly, but Amanda just... ignored her. The other girls tried taunting her, but Rebecca shut them up instead so they could practice. 

Amanda is the first one to look away with a huff and Katherine subtly heaves a sigh of relief.

She quickly finishes changing. Whatever Tommy wants to talk about, she's game. If she's mad, she'll say she's sorry and that she'll make it up to her. She just wants to be with her friend again. 

\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ \\\\\\\ 

"Well damn," her mother breathes as she pulls up the car in front of a huge white house. "You didn't tell me your friend was rich."

Katherine's eyes are wide. It looks like the kind of house that has a pool. A huge pool. "Well shit, I didn't know either, Mom."

Amy clicks her tongue and reaches over the console to pinch her daughter's cheek. "Language."

"You cuss all the time."

"I'm old. You're still fourteen."

"Oh, it's like that?" She looks down at the bag of doughnut holes she brought with her. "That jerk begged me to buy these for her when she's the rich one. I should charge her." Amy laughs, knowing that her daughter is only joking. "Okay, I'm going. You seriously don't have to pick me up. I can walk back."

"After all the monster attacks that's been happening?" She quickly kisses Katherine's forehead. "I'm driving you everywhere."

"Does this mean I can get my own car soon?"

"Get a liscence first." She reaches past Katherine to open the car door. "Now, get out."

Katherine is just about to press the doorbell when the door suddenly swings open. A man with familiar green eyes reveals himself, his hair pail orange with streaks of gray. 

"Hi, Mr. Oliver," Katherine greets. "I'm Katherine Hillard. Tommy said I can come hang out here and uh..."

"Oh, yeah, yeah," Mr. Oliver nods and distractedly puts on the coat he had hanging on his arm. "She's mentioned it, I think. And I remember you. One of the cheerleaders. I have to go tonight, but you can go ahead and come in. Just lock the door." 

Katherine doesn't get to say a thank you or good bye before Mr. Oliver is striding to the garage to get to his car. Katherine just shrugs and does as she's told. She's left there alone in the Oliver's fancy foyer, a Krispey Kreme bag in her hand and no idea where Tommy is. Shit.

"Hello?" she says to anyone in this house who might hopefully hear and save Katherine. "I'm Tommy's friend, not an intruder or anything. Mr. Oliver let me in and now I'm talking to myself like an idiot." 

She grumbles some more at how she just made an idiot of herself as she pulls out her phone to just text Tommy. She's in the middle of texting _where tf r u im in ur huge ass house_ when she hears it. Music? The sound of a flute.

It's a beautiful melody, sounding both sorrowful and hopeful. She tucks her phone back into her pocket. She didn't think Tommy would be the type to listen to classical music. She climbs the stairs and follows the sound to a slightly ajar door at the end of the hall. She pushes it open, finding it hard to believe what she's seeing.

Tommy isn't wearing her signature letterman jacket and her hair isn't tied up. Her beautiful dark hair is falling past her shoulders, free to sway according to Tommy's movements as she blows into a silver flute. Tommy is playing the flute and she sounds amazing.

"Wow."

"Holy shit!"

Tommy's stance changes, no longer relaxed and the flute now held in her hands like a bat ready to be swung. Tommy doesn't lower the instrument when she finally recognizes Katherine, just stands there like a doofus with a flute held over her head.

"What the shit, Katherine?!"

"I -" a snort interrupts her -" Sorry. Could you relax, please? You look like an idiot." Tommy straightens and pouts at Katherine. "Your dad let me in and I was trying to find you. I didn't know you can play. Have you ever joined a marching band?"

"It's... just a hobby," Tommy frowns and legitimately looks frustrated as she puts the flute away into its fancy-looking case. "Dammit, Dad."

Oh, Katherine's never seen that look before. "Sorry, are you really mad?"

Tommy shakes her head. "No, you're fine." She sits at the edge of the bed and gives Katherine a smile while she pats the space beside her. "Come on in here."

Katherine finds herself feeling bashful, but she shrugs it away and sits beside Tommy. She holds up the bag and says, "I got doughnut holes."

"Oh, thank god," Tommy grabs the bag and says, "I love you."

"Are you talking to me or the bag?"

"Don't you know, Katherine? The 'd' in 'dyke' stands for 'doughnut'." 

"That... I'm not sure that makes sense."

Tommy shoves one into her mouth. "I _doughnut_ care."

Katherine groans and lets herself fall back into Tommy's incredibly soft bed. She can get used to this.

Whoa, back it up there a bit, Hillard.

She looks around the room, surprised to see more white than green. A sort of green gem on Tommy's bedside table catches her eye. Why does it look so familiar?

"So what did you wanna do?" Tommy says as she digs inside the bag for her favorite strawberry jam filled ones. Katherine rolls her eyes. "We can watch a movie? We got a pool. Wanna swim?"

Katherine just discovered that she may possibly be falling for her best friend. Seeing Tommy in a bikini would just be too much for her poor heart. "I didn't really bring any swim wear. And it's cold out."

"A movie?"

She sits up. "No, no. Let's just talk. I missed you." She realizes it's a mistake to say that when she sees a wide grin on Tommy's face. "Shit, no -"

"Awe..."

"Ugh."

Tommy discards the bag to wrap her arms around Katherine, squishing their cheeks together. "I missed you, too."

"Stop," she whines in spite of the fact that she's actually enjoying the contact. "Your face is all powdery."

"Oh, boo!" 

Katherine finally gains freedom and says, "So how come you're all close with Kimberly Hart and her friends, anyway?"

"Why? Are you jealous?"

"No," she lies. "Answer the damn question."

"We all have detention together," Tommy shrugs. "I got to talk to them and I guess they liked me enough to invite me to hang out with them."

"But isn't that weird? They're all seniors and you're just a freshman kid. What do you guys even talk about?"

"Just teenagers stuff. Hey, how are things going with Amanda now that you don't let her walk all over you?"

Katherine takes a moment to skeptically look at Tommy. She seems nervous somehow. She was way too eager to change the topic and Tommy found it hard to look Katherine in the eye ever since she mentioned Kimberly's friend group.

"Not too bad, actually. My relationship with the squad is purely business now and I prefer it that way. Hey," she moves closer to Tommy to make sure that she's looking at her. "Is there a problem? Are they being di -- mean to you?"

Tommy laughs. "I appreciate your effort to censor yourself." She giggles when Katherine hits her on the arm. "No, they're not being mean to me. They're all wonderful. Jason's like this really dependable big brother. Billy is the sweetest person ever, I swear. Trini is really cool and -"

"Okay, I get it. They're amazing. So what's the problem?"

Tommy sighs, and then it's her turn to flop backwards into her bed. Her long hair is spread against the white sheets and the sight is making it very hard for Katherine's ability to concentrate. 

"It's just... they're so close, you know? They're all ride or die for each other. They're so tight knit and... I don't know how I'm supposed to squeeze my way into that."

It's funny to think that Katherine used to be like that. So desperate to fit into a group that she would do whatever it took. Katherine has already accepted that it isn't worth bending over backwards to gain their approval. _They_ aren't worth it. 

But Tommy's case doesn't seem to be the same. She's talked to Kimberly, can see that she's just a person who's trying to become better than who she was. She saw how her friends came to give Tommy the company and comfort Katherine couldn't give when she was too overwhelmed by her own fears. They mean a lot to Tommy.

"Hey," Katherine softly says so Tommy would stop staring holes at her room's ceiling and look at her instead. "Just don't do what I did and try too hard. We both know that ended in a disaster."

"That's because they're meanies."

"I'm still one of those meanies." She's acquired quite a reputation now that she's taken off the fake mask. 'Meanie' is a big understatement.

Tommy grins. "You're the good kind of meanie."

It takes great effort for Katherine to not roll her eyes. "Well, you won over _this_ meanie. So I'm sure that, given time, those 'cool seniors' will be captured by your charm, too. I'm sure of it."

Tommy's grin recedes to a soft smile. "Thanks, Katherine."

Katherine bites her lip. She sits up a little straighter so she doesn't do anything she'll regret. 

"You can just call me 'Kat', you know. 'Katherine' sounds like such an old lady name."

"Not to me. I think it sounds like a princess' name." Tommy blinks for a moment before she snickers.

Katherine raises a brow. "What? Am I not princess-y enough for a princess' name?"

"Nah, nah. I just remembered that Trini sometimes calls Kim "Princess" for some reason." She waves off Katherine's confusion. "It's just a thing they do. No one questions it. Anyway..." She sits up and gives an earnest grin, head tilted to the side." _Princess Katherine_ has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Katherine has to look away. Tommy is too beautiful for her own good. It's quite unfair, to be honest. "I guess so. Only if you're my knight in shining armor."

Tommy laughs again. It gives Katherine the distinct feeling that there's a joke she's not getting. She flops back into her bed. "Sure thing."

Then Katherine makes the mistake of looking back at Tommy and seeing her smile. Idiot. Now her heart is racing. 

Tommy pats the space beside her. "Come on, lie with me."

Katherine smirks. "Oh, are we close enough for that?"

"Just c'mere," Tommy whines.

Katherine makes sure to leave space between them. A platonic barrier, if you will. Her fingers are locked together to keep from the temptation of touching Tommy's hair. 

"Hey, Katherine?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry things didn't work out with Amanda like you hoped it would. I know you looked up to her."

Katherine lets a fond smile form in her mouth. "It's okay. I still got you. You're not too bad." So much better, really."

This whole crush thing is going to make this entire friendship difficult, isn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the last chapter for this fic, but dont worry i still have more in store. one shots and a few shorter multi fics. ive grown a bit attached to these kids

**Author's Note:**

> i know so many fics have started or ended with Ty getting punched in the face, but i dont care. so i did both hah
> 
> (and yes. their homework is a steven universe reference)


End file.
